Caracas, 1983

It was the only time the Canadian women’s team ever won the gold medal at a major softball competition. No one could have guessed it would have happened.

Until 1983, the Canadian champions bolstered by a few choice players represented Canada. What this created was a major recruitment tool for the Canadian champions. Also, talented players never got the chance to represent their country. Finally, some of the shenanigans what went on behind the scenes that shouldn’t have happened.

It was time for Canada to be represented by its best players, period.

The only problem was that the coach of the national championship team persuaded his players to boycott the training camp. He figured that we would come begging on our knees and put many of his players on his team on the national team. He was wrong.

The result was that we went to Caracas with what many would have said was a team far weaker than our potential. It was questionable whether we would even win a medal. The United States for the first time was fielding a team with its best players. I figured that they would totally dominate the tournament, and they nearly did.

When the athletes arrived at the village where they were accommodated, they found things less than satisfactory. For example, drains were installed at the wrong end of the slope in the shower, so the water didn’t drain adequately.

The situation was so bad that both the men’s and women’s American teams left and went to hotels.

The Canadian teams did not have that option. The men’s team coaches basically told their players that they only had to put up with this for one week, so to grin and bear it.

The women’s team coaches handled the situation much better. The next morning they assembled in the cafeteria with the players and complained. They complained that the bar stools were too short, the air conditioning was too cold, the shag carpet was too long and several other things that didn’t exist. Pretty soon the players were laughing and adding to the mythical residences they had.

The big difference between the two teams is that the men’s team took a negative experience and neutralized it. The women’s team actually made it positive. They made the situation laughable.

Did we win the championship because we were able to laugh at adversity? Partially, but there were many other factors that contributed to our success, one being a tactical error on behalf of the United States. However, the spirit of these women to concentrate on doing their very best and nothing less was a key factor.